Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

#KYsen

@politico.com
www.politico.com/live-updates...

270 1.8K 7.5K

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 2d

If I Ran the Media™
Fewer stories on:
—How Dems Need to Change Their Messaging
—How [event xx] Will Play w [voter bloc YY]
—How 2028 Field Is Shaping Up

More of:
—Which points of resistance are actually working
—What specifically GOP Reps/Sens are so afraid of
—Real-world tariff/immig effects
—ETC

100 650 2.9K

Lauren Eastwood @leeastwood.bsky.social · 4d

#MADC
@sunyufspresident.bsky.social

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 4d

The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...

The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence

Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.

blog.dividedargument.com

1 2

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 4d

The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...

The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence

Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.

blog.dividedargument.com

5 230 560

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 4d

One thing that comes through awfully clearly in these ICE videos is how many of these goons gravitated toward the job because being able to assault people with impunity is a big thrill for them.

120 6.3K 26K

Lauren Eastwood @leeastwood.bsky.social · 4d

olivia.science/ai
@johnamcmahon.bsky.social

Critical AI

On this page are some resources for Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) from my perspective.

olivia.science

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 4d

If people want to read more, I suggest starting here:

"We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically."

bsky.app/profile/oliv...

11/

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 23d

I collected some materials on critical AI from my perspective; hope it's useful: olivia.science/ai

"CAIL is as an umbrella for all the prerequisite knowledge required to have an expert-level critical perspective, such as to tell apart nonsense hype from true theoretical computer scientific claims"

2 11 48

Lauren Eastwood @leeastwood.bsky.social · 4d

😂

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Staci D. Kramer @sdkstl.bsky.social · 4d

I haven't read every comment but I have yet to see anyone point out that undocumented workers have paid billions in taxes for social security, Medicare and other benefits or programs that go only to U.S. citizens. Conversely, not all citizens are taxpayers. itep.org/undocumented...

12 71 190

Lauren Eastwood @leeastwood.bsky.social · 4d

And 13 seconds!

1

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 4d

A study imagined NIH with 40% less funding. The result? More than half of FDA-approved drugs since 2000 might not exist. Basic research dollars have real-world impact.
buff.ly/CIfauh4

Science costs money – research is guided by who funds it and why

The federal government is more likely to fund curiosity-driven basic research, while industry is more likely to support research that has a clearer eventual payoff.

theconversation.com

23 32

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 4d

"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead..."
-Thomas Paine.

2 30 96

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 5d

youtu.be/vOXOWAhFz0A

‘F--- them kids’: ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building

YouTube video by MSNBC

youtu.be

600 4.3K 8.6K

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 5d

A protester with a mobility aid (cane) was sitting in the road. Illinois state troopers dragged them to the grass and arrested them.

38 300 770

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Christopher English @ampersandc.bsky.social · 6d

AI sucks

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 6d

People who coax chatbots into sensible answers are basically opening and closing the fridge until it contains something you wanna eat, yes, eventually you get hungrier & eat the stuff in there. But what changed was your cognition. The fridge stayed the same. You changed your mind about the contents.

3 6

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 7d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

650 8.2K 25K

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 7d

How can you negotiate with Republicans in Congress to fund the government when as soon as you reach an agreement you know that Trump’s OMB director will just withhold the funds?

150 730 2K

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Aug 1

Here's a link to the entire document. Like all primary sources, it is a product of its moment and does not voice timeless or universal truths. It is, however, interesting how insightful this particular analysis of American fascism, ca. 1945, looks in hindsight. archive.org/details/Army...

Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheet #64 - Fascism! : Army Orientation Branch: Information and Education Division : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

March 24, 1945. Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheet #64 Fascism! A sheet printed and distributed by the United States War Department as an educational tool for...

archive.org

9 190 800

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Aug 1

The first fascistic tactic to look out for is a hate campaign against a particular religious, racial, or ethnic group. Like, for example, let's say a candidate emerges who calls all people of one nationality "rapists" and "criminals," while promising to ban immigrants from only one religious group.

1. Pitting of religious, racial, and economic groups against one another in order to break down national unity is a device of the "divide and conquer" technique used by Hitler to gain power in Germany and in other countries. With slight variations, to suit local conditions, fascists everywhere have used this Hitler method. In many countries, anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews) is a dominant device of fascism. In the United States, native fascists have often been anti-Catholic, anti-Jew, anti-Negro, anti-Labor, anti-foreign-born. In South America, the native fascists use the same scapegoats except that they substitute anti-Protestantism for anti-Catholicism.
Interwoven with the "master race" theory of fascism is a well-planned "hate campaign" against minority races, religions, and other groups. To suit their particular needs and aims, fascists will use any one or a combination of such groups as a convenient scapegoat.

6 170 790

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

pileque.bsky.social @pileque.bsky.social · 7d

"When it comes to the AI technology industry, we refuse their frames, reject their addictive and brittle technology, and demand that the sanctity of the university both as an institution and a set of values be restored."

zenodo.org/records/1706...

Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia

Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these col...

zenodo.org

9 16

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Neil Walkinshaw @neilwalkinshaw.bsky.social · 7d

I used to have one of these! Love the idea of "modding" an old casio watch! 🔧

You can upgrade a Casio watch with Bluetooth, step counting, and games | The Verge share.google/Zma7UEjgKPfp...

You can now upgrade a retro Casio watch with Bluetooth, step tracking, and games

Are these iconic Casio digital watches still as desirable with smart features?

share.google

2 4 5

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 7d

75% 🤬

I’m not alone, but we pay over $19K/year for insurance through the ACA for my daughter, my wife, and myself.

Like millions of other Americans, we are bracing ourselves to be priced out. We don’t need to just save healthcare. We need to make it better and affordable.
#DonaldTrumpsShutdown

170 880 2.4K

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

CNBC: Is it true that you want to restore American taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants.

JEFFRIES: This is also an outright lie. Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals. That's the law.

410 3.1K 9.3K

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Heather Buchel @heather-buchel.com · 7d

Im finding it increasingly difficult to survive in this age of tech where all the worst people are influencing us to build all the wrong things. Even when I try to focus on my little part of the web, I see where all of that bad weaves it's awful little threads into it. Depressing!

5 6 82

Reposted by Lauren Eastwood

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse @whitehouse.senate.gov · 7d

The latest shadow docket decision moves the Supreme Court further down a submissive pattern of wins given up to Trump: the pattern is 10:1.

9 83 280